The figure that Washington confirms and the questions it does not answer
The US Southern Command raised this Monday to 126 the number of people killed in its attacks against suspicious boats. The figure includes those who are “presumed dead” after being lost at sea.
Of those, 116 have died in at least 36 operations since September in the Caribbean and Pacific. The other ten are cases like the eight individuals who jumped from a boat attacked on December 30 and were never found.
“The US government has offered little evidence to support its claims of having killed ‘narcoterrorists’.”
A strategy under the magnifying glass
The official narrative speaks of an “armed conflict” against cartels. But critics point to two huge flaws: Most of the deadly fentanyl comes overland from Mexico, and the very legality of these attacks is in question.
The scandal broke out when it became known that, in the first operation, survivors who were already in the water were eliminated. For Republicans it was “legal and necessary.” For Democrats and pundits, it was something much darker.
“Democratic lawmakers and legal experts say those deaths were murders, if not a war crime.”
This naval campaign—one of the largest in the region in decades—intensified along with pressure on Venezuela, which culminated in the capture and extradition of Nicolás Maduro. Now, with Maduro on American soil, the focus seems to have changed.
After the January 3 incursion into Venezuela, there has only been one attack on boats. The new target is Venezuelan oil tankers, as part of the plan to take control of the country’s oil.
Meanwhile, in Washington, Republicans have blocked all Democratic attempts to limit the president’s ability to order more strikes. The account is still open.
